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My Blog and I

My name is Diana. I am the blogger behind Offbeat Vagabond. I just
wanted something to help me rant on about things I love or don't quite
love. I am big on books, especially Urban
Fantasy, it is my favorite genre. Any Romance has to be Paranormal,
because love isn't natural without a gun and a beast involved. Although my tastes are very much expanding, I have discovered a love for Contemporary even BDSM (shocking!) I love
movies. Sci-fi/Fantasy/Horror/Action, pretty much anything as long as no
Romantic Comedies are involved (Katherine Heigl, you have been warned).
Music, TV, Wrestling are all my things as well (although I haven't been watching Wrestling as much as I used to). I am doing this for fun. I want to
write on a professional front, so blogging is a good stepping stone for
me. I just hope that stone doesn't have moss and I slip and break
something. So join me in my little piece of the Internet and remember,
it is normal to be abnormal

October Releases

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Hello again Vagabonds! Please give a huge welcome to author R. L. Naquin. Naquin is the author of the Urban Fantasy series, Monster Haven. Naquin is here today to share an excerpt from the newest release, Pooka in my Pantry. She is also throwing a wonderful giveaway for you guys. So sit back and enjoy.

Zoey Donovan—empath,
wedding planner, go-to girl for monsters with personal problems—has been
marked twice for pickup by Death. On both occasions, Riley the
smoking-hot reaper has refused to follow through. For his breach of
protocol, Riley is now on probation. For her refusal to die on schedule,
Zoey's right to live is challenged. She will have to undergo a
life-or-death trial, but she won't know when or where it will happen…

Staying
alive might not be so difficult if the Leprechaun Mafia hadn't strolled
into town. Now every business owner with the slightest connection to
the supernatural community is being threatened with the most appalling
bad luck if they don't pay up. Mirrors are smashed, bodies are dropping,
and Zoey's still got clients waiting for fabric samples.

With a
little luck, she might be able to save everyone and still have time for a
second attempt at a decent first date with her favorite reaper.

*********************************************

Excerpt
Pooka in My Pantry

Chapter 1

You help one
monster in need, and everybody hears about it.

The recent appearance of various monsters and mythical creatures in my
life took some adjustment. But no amount of flexibility prepared me to assist
in the live birth of a sea serpent in my own backyard. That’s a lot to ask of
anybody.

My swimming pool looked like a major crime scene, and I was pretty sure
bits of mucus mixed with dried blood flecked my hair. I’d probably have to take
out a personal loan to cover the water bill once I took a three-hour shower,
then drained and refilled the pool.

When the sea serpent appeared in my pool a month before, I had no clue
what to do about it. Fortunately, Maurice, my resident closet monster, was
quick on his feet. While I stood slack-jawed at the kitchen window, he ran to
get Molly to be our translator. Fluent in all sorts of crazy creature languages
ranging from house pets to gargoyles, Molly, the brownie, lived in a mushroom
house in my backyard with her kids.

Except it took over three weeks to find Bruce, leaving us with no idea
why a listless, snorting sea serpent had moved into my swimming pool.
Communicating in pantomime with a creature that had no hands was futile, absurd
and probably hilarious to watch.

When Bruce (via Molly) explained the situation, I did my best not to
panic. The sea serpent was pregnant, but she could tell something was wrong.
Naturally, she came ashore to my house for help, since everyone in the
supernatural community seemed to think I had the answer to every problem.

I had no experience delivering healthy babies of any species. All I had
to go on were basic anatomy and zoology classes in college, and a wealth of
medical procedural shows on television. And yet, something inside me clicked
when Frannie went into labor and the baby stopped moving. I jumped into the
water without a thought for my spangled, dry-clean-only shirt, or for the
discomfort of wet jeans and high tops. In hindsight, I should’ve at least
kicked off my shoes.

I’m not sure how to describe the supreme ick factor of having both arms
shoved up to the elbow inside a sea serpent’s body. The baby was turned wrong,
kind of folded in half and pointed to emerge center-first, rather than in a
straight line with its head or tail facing the exit.

“Don’t push, Frannie,” I said. “I have to unfold the baby or it’ll stay
stuck.”

Molly made a series of grunting snorts, which Bruce translated into a
series of clicks and yowls. I felt the serpent relax around my squashed arms
and wrestled the slippery baby into a better position. Another contraction hit
and I stopped, waiting until I had more room to work.

The mournful cry from Frannie needed no translation.

When the contraction was over, I made another grab with one hand to hold
the baby steady and pulled the head with the other. I’m not a dainty woman, but
I’m not big enough to palm a basketball, either. That’s what it felt like I was
trying to do in there, only the basketball in question had eyes I needed to
avoid poking, and it was covered in what felt like tapioca pudding.

I got a good grip on a dorsal fin at what I hoped was the back of its
neck as the next contraction hit.

“Push!”

Clacks and snarls followed down the translation line, and Frannie pushed
while I pulled. My other hand shoved, guiding the rest of the baby straight.
Once the head slipped into place, nature took over, and out everything slid.
Right into my pool and all over me.

As an empath, I try never to leave the house without my protective walls
up. The emotions of other people tend to overwhelm and drain me. But I was at
home, and I was exhausted. I’d been so focused on the birth that I hadn’t built
any barriers, so there was nothing between me and the small group around me to
barricade my psyche against what wasn’t mine. I stood in the frigid water,
unconcerned by my shaking body or the gore that covered me.

The emotional inrush saturated me in love and happiness.

Frannie nuzzled her new offspring, and a quiet joy settled over me,
warming my freezing flesh. From Molly’s direction, relief lay across my
shoulders like a heated blanket, and Bruce’s delight prickled my skin in
electric jolts. My eyelids burned. I closed them to relieve the sensation. My
back bumped against the side of the pool, and I let my knees bend so I could
float.

Worry.

Panic.

They shot through the other emotions like tiny arrows. My eyelids cracked
open, but only for a few seconds. Nothing was wrong. All was right. My job was
done, so what would it hurt to take a little rest?

Thin fingers dug into the flesh in my arms, hauling me from the pool. I
made a weak attempt to slap at the intruder.

The closet monster’s big yellow eyes hovered inches from my face. His
worry was so intense, it blocked all the warm fuzzy stuff happening behind him.
He coaxed me to my feet, fussing at the towels to keep them from sliding off,
and leading me into the house.

“Seriously, Zoey. I don’t know how you stayed alive before I got here. If
you didn’t drown, hypothermia would’ve had you.”

*********************************************

About R. L. Naquin

Rachel’s
head is packed with an outrageous amount of useless Disney trivia. She
is terrified of thunder, but not of lightning, and tends to recite the
Disneyland dedication speech during storms to keep herself calm. She
finds it appalling that nobody from Disney has called yet with her
castle move-in date.

Originally
from Northern California, she has a tendency to move every few years,
resulting in a total of seven different states and a six-year stint in
England. Currently, she’s planning her next grand adventure. Rachel has
one heroic husband, two genius kids, several annoyed cats, and an
imaginary dog named Waffles.

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Hello Vagabonds. Please give a warm welcome to author B.R. Kingsolver. Kingsolver is the author of The Telepathic Clans series. She has a guest post set for us. It is about errors in novels and the importance of having your work edited. Let's get the ball rolling.

The importance of edits

Adam who's lover was imprisoned by
the dark lord, lead his horse threw the gate into the city, conscience of eyes
following him form the moment he set foot in the city, but he was to tired and
hungry too care after too days on the road.

I've seen all of those errors in novels I've purchased for
my Nook, and been disgusted that I wasted my money. Let's try it again.

Adam, whose lover was imprisoned by the Dark Lord, led
his horse through the gate, conscious of eyes following him from the moment he
set foot in the city. He was too tired and hungry to care after two days on the
road.

A little better, don't you think? My spell checker didn't
catch a single error in the first sample. It might be a great story, full of
breathtaking adventure, sensual romance, and plot twists that leave you off
balance and afraid to put it down until the final sentence, but the chances are
it will never be appreciated. It's a story destined for oblivion and one-star
reviews from outraged readers.

I've seen typos and poor word choices slip through the
editing process in books published by the large publishing houses. I found a
jarring typo in a Nora Roberts book once. But the chances are that the physical
books you buy in Barnes and Noble are going to be mostly error free. They pay
people with sound English skills to make sure of it.

It's not enough to have a good story and be a good story
teller. When I finished my first novel, I read it through and edited it twice,
then sent it out to a couple of friends to beta read it. I found a critique
partner on line and sent it to her. I was shocked by their responses.
"Like wading through molasses," was one of the kinder comments. They
highlighted awkward sentences, confusing word choices, and scenes that didn't
work.

Some of the critiques I've received will live forever in my
memory. "When I read that, I wanted to put my eyes out with my pen."
"BR, it's a muddled mess. What's the story arc?" "I think you
might want to rethink that scene. If this was a book I bought, I don't know if
I would have finished it."

When I check review policies on most book review sites, one
of the criteria they stress is "has it been professionally edited?"
If not, they aren't interested. Recently, a reviewer of my first novel
said, "It's pretty flawless by the way of editing, which is very
impressive. The writing is clean and concise." I find it sad that a
reviewer feels it necessary to note that a self-published work was well-edited.
It says volumes about what she has come to expect from independent authors.

The book didn't get that way by magic. I worked in
newspapers for several years, and one of the core rules was that everything
that went in the paper was edited by two different people other than the
author. Just as readers judge a book by the cover, they judge the quality of
the story in part by the care and quality that goes into the presentation of
the story.

One of the things I fear is an even stronger backlash
against independent authors. I can see a time when Amazon, Barnes and Noble,
and other retailers charge a fee for checking a book prior to posting it on
their sites. They have every incentive to break the power of the large
publishing houses, so it's to their benefit to have the independently-published
books sell. A lot of bad books camouflage the good ones and cut into their
profits. They don't have any incentive to carry books that create a negative
impression and don't sell.

I've checked the rates editors charge, and thought about how
long it takes me to edit a book. At a penny a word, it would cost $850 for an
editor to take one pass through either of the novels I've published. The last
work I edited for someone else took three days. I could make a living at it if
I had enough customers to keep me busy. But I don't think a lot of independent authors
feel they can afford to spend that kind of money, especially since revisions
and re-edit would increase the price.

I send my novels to anyone who is interested in being a beta
reader and giving me feedback. Not all of them make it through the first draft.
I take their comments and suggestions, revise, cut, add, edit, and send it out
again. In the end, I've done at least three edits myself, run it through two
professional editors, and twice through an eighth-grade English teacher. The
reviews tell me I'm doing something right. People may not like my story or my
writing style, but I don't get rejected over the technical issues of grammar,
punctuation and spelling.

My recommendation to independent authors is to find one or
more critique groups to work with and at least one outstanding editor to do a
final edit after all the revisions and edits are done. There are thousands of
books published every month. Give your book a chance.

*********************************************

Excerpt from The Succubus Gift

Carlos stared at Don Rodrigo, writhing on the ground before
him. Rebecca appeared by his side, startling him. His lover walked toward the
Argentine Clan head, picked up his rifle, and pulled his pistol from its
holster.

“I haven’t done anything to him yet. Brenna has captured
their minds. Now we need to figure out what to do with them.”

He turned and looked at the young woman standing behind him,
her black hair floating in the wind. She held a rifle in her hands.

“All of them?”

“Huh?” Rebecca followed his eyes. “Oh, yeah, she has all of
them that still have minds. She wasn’t sure if she could take thirty at once,
and she was worried about the distance.” Rebecca checked with Brenna mentally.

“She says she has seventeen captured. That’s fewer
casualties than Paris. I still get sick to my stomach when I remember that
disaster. We weren’t trained as well then, and we were younger.”

Donny walked over to Brenna and she handed him the rifle.

“Whew,” Rebecca breathed a sigh of relief. “Try to keep
loaded firearms out of her hands. She’s the worst shot in the world. If you
think she needs a weapon, give her a frying pan.”

I made silver and turquoise
jewelry for almost a decade, ended up in nursing school, then took a
master’s in business. Along the way I worked in construction, as a
newspaper editor, a teacher, and somehow found a career working with
computers.

I’ve always been shy and I have spent a lot of my life
alone with a book. I first tried to write a novel when I was 15, a
science fiction book set in an alternate reality. I wrote about a dozen
pages with a pencil. I kept it for years, occasionally coming across it
and reading it. It was awful, and it kept me from trying again for a
long time.

So I made up stories in my head to entertain myself.
If I don’t have a book and I’m on a plane or someplace else that’s
boring, such as driving across the country, I make up stories.

I
received a Nook for my birthday a couple of years ago and loved it, and
started reading about the revolution in e-publishing, and the success
some indie authors had with self-published works. This past
Thanksgiving, I was discussing this with a friend, and mentioned that I
had conceived a story I thought might be appealing to some people. She
encouraged me to write it down.

As to my other interests, I love
the outdoors, especially the Rocky Mountains. I’ve skied since high
school, with one broken leg and one torn ACL to show for it. I’ve hiked
and camped all my life. I love to travel, though I haven’t done enough
of it. I’ve seen a lot of Russia and Mexico, not enough of England.
Amsterdam is amazing, and the Romanian Alps are breathtaking. Lake Tahoe
is a favorite, and someday I’d like to see Banff.

I have a very
significant other, two cats and two Basset Hounds. I’m currently living
in Baltimore, nine blocks from the harbor, but still own a home in New
Mexico that I see too infrequently.

What could go wrong in the 14th-century for three time-traveling teens? How about – EVERYTHING!

Hansum, Shamira and Lincoln, three teens from the 24th century, are
trapped in 14th-century Verona, Italy. They’ve survived many deadly
experiences by keeping their wits about them and by introducing
futuristic technology into the past. Principal among these inventions is
the telescope, which brought them to the attention of the rich and
powerful.

But standing out can get you into unexpected and dangerous
situations. The nobles of Verona now believe Hansum is a savant, a
genius inventor, especially after he brings them plans for advanced
cannons and black powder. Being the center of attention is great, but
the potential for trouble is now exponentially greater because people
are watching Hansum’s every move.

Meanwhile, artistic genius Shamira has fallen for a Florentine artist
with bloody and disastrous consequences. Lincoln, considered an
incompetent back home in the 24th-century, has blossomed – at least
until he’s shot in the head with an arrow. And Hansum, after secretly
marrying his new master’s beautiful daughter, Guilietta, is offered the
hand in marriage of lady Beatrice, daughter of the ruler of Verona. To
refuse could mean calamity for all the teens.

Amazingly, none of this is their biggest challenge. Because a rash
illness is spreading across Verona – and it is threatening to consume
everyone.

Do they have a future in this past?

*********************************************

The Bronze
and The Brimstone is the second book in the Verona Trilogy. This time around we
follow the gang as we see how they are successfully surviving in 14th
century Italy.
Hansum is seen as a genius inventor and everyone wants to pick his brain for
his inventions for war. Shamira and Lincoln are also doing well and thriving.
But all the success brings more than they bargain for when they start to see
the ugly side of success. Not only does Hansum have to figure out a way to keep
the Podesta happy, but he must keep the Master of the house happy. He loves and
wants to marry his daughter, Guiletta, but neither the Podest nor the Master
will accept. And to make things worse, given the time period and where they
are, the Black Plague is soon to be on them. They don’t even know the beginning
of horror yet.

What an
amazing sequel. This was even better than the first book. It was so exciting and
quite the rollercoaster. There were definitely a few tears from me. I loved the
gang even more this time around. They were so immature in the first book. I
love how much they have grown and accepted their situation. They could have
easily gone around moping around, wanting everyone to do the work for them. In
this book, we mainly follow Hansum aka Romero. I was most satisfied with his
progress from the first book. He was just so spoiled. We also still have Pan.
He is the chip that helps guide the group and tells them about the inventions
that will help them succeed. I am so happy they had Pan. If not for him, I can
not imagine how these guys would survive, mainly Hansum. With Hansum’s success,
he is beginning to see the ugly side of those he works with and how easily
people can turn on you if they don’t get what they want.

There were
amazing plot twists in this book. The main one at the end I kind of had a
feeling about. It just wouldn’t have made sense otherwise if you think about
it. But there were many other things that I didn’t see coming. The Podesta is
so desperate to get more of Hansum’s genius; he did something absolutely awful
in this book that resulted in something even more terrible happening. This was
weird for me because Hansum’s reaction to it wasn’t what it should have been. I
would have done something. That was just unforgivable and it was all due to his
selfishness. I don’t think the Podesta is evil per se, but he looks out for
number one and that is it. There is even a story with Father Lorenzo. Oh my
goodness, I could rant about him all day. I couldn’t believe him especially in
the end. Wow!

This book
was an exciting read from beginning to end. I was never bored and Kaufman really
through a lot of incredible loops at us. Again, there were tears and laughs. I
felt quite a connection with the characters. We do get a little more of the
side characters in this book, but not nearly enough for me. But I still loved
the book. You really won’t believe where this book goes. Highly recommend this
read for those looking for a unique kind of science fiction. I love the world
set in the past. I actually feel like I am there, Kaufman does such a great job
bringing it to life. Definitely check this trilogy out.

I write Post-Dystopian
fiction. After society’s collapse, which is imagined in so many great
dystopian stories, humans will either fade into history, with the
dinosaurs, or, if it learns the right lessons, society will go on to
construct a civilization to last tens of thousands of years. History
Camp stories are the exciting adventures of young people doing the
latter." -Lory Kaufman

On the artistic side of my career, I've
written, acted and directed children’s theatre and musical theatre. I
enjoy art, especially sculpture. I love science fiction and historical
fiction and have been deeply involved in the green movement all across
North America. I think all these thing show through when you read my
work. I have three grown children and work and live in Kingston,

What lengths would you
go to in order to become a mother? Midwife Katie Cohen-Langer delivers
babies for a living, but despite years of intensive infertility
treatments and growing desperation, she can't have her own child.​As
families grow under Katie's careful watch, her husband wants to move on
to adoption. But Katie, who was adopted as a newborn, can't bear the
thought of never having a biological connection to anyone.​So
she sets off on a journey to the other side of the country, along with
her emotionally unstable sister, to find her biological relatives.​What
she discovers about her roots --and about the parents who adopted her
-- rocks her world in a way she never could have expected. And even as
she deals with what she finds, she still needs to figure out a way to
become a mother.

*********************************************

Child of Mine is about a woman
named Katie and her quest to have a child of her own. She has her
dream job of being a midwife. She helps plenty of women to deliver
their children and make sure her their kids are good and healthy. But
Katie and her husband David are trying to create their own child.
They have been trying for years, but time and time again it never
goes through. David believes they should adopt, but Katie isn't sure.
She herself was adopted and doesn't know if she wants to put a child
through that. David thinks she should try looking for her biological
parents first to help her. On her search, she discovers secrets she
may not have wanted to know.

This is the debut novel from Judy
Walters and what a debut it is. Child of Mine was such a
beautifully written book that is packed full of emotions. You
instantly have a connection to Katie. You feel so sorry for her
situation. She is trying so hard to have her own child. Her and
husband spend so much time and money on treatments to get pregnant.
They either don't work at all or she ends up with a miscarriage. With
all of this piling on her, it makes working as a midwife difficult.
She can't have a child, but she helps so many women deliver theirs.
It hurts worse when they don't want the child or they just got
pregnant by accident.

Katie also has to deal with taking
care of her sister, Lila, who is suffering from depression. Lila just
had a baby boy, Jake, and she can't handle it on her own. She has
always dealt with depression when she was younger. So bad that it has
frightened her family a time or two. It was quite a sad backstory.
Lila always needs Katie to help. She never does anything on her own.
Lila's husband, Mike, and David believe that Lila needs to do things
on her own. She is getting too dependent on Katie. I absolutely
agreed with them. Lila was kind of awful in the beginning. I know she
was depressed, but my goodness, she was killing me in the beginning
of this book. But things change when Katie starts the search for her
parents. I really liked this part of the book.

The story was quite emotional and
heart wrenching. Experiencing Katie's struggle was hard and you keep
hoping and waiting for her to get the whole family she wants. I loved
the journey she took to find her birth parents. I was quite shocked
what she found out. She finds that she has been lied to and as you
can imagine, she is hurt. She is desperate for answers and feels
stuck and helpless. You definitely feel for her and her situation.

I don't usually read women's fiction,
but I was curious about what she would find. The book is very easy to
relate to. The book does such a good job of showing all the emotions
involved with adoption and how it effects you and your family. I
loved the family dynamics in this book. The heartache, the
helplessness, the disappointment, it all felt real. This could easily
be a biography. This is worth checking out.

After many years working as an editor in non-fiction publishing, Judy became a Stay-at-Home Mother to
her two girls, conceived via infertility treatment. She wrote Child of
Mine as an homage to the struggle nearly 1 in 6 couples go through in
order to have their families.